I hope most of you have come to realize
I give little attention to sports.
However, in light of the past five days
I feel I need to make a confession:
Baltimore's sports teams are growing on me.
When I arrived in Baltimore five years ago
you couldn't have told me this day would ever come.
I lived in a city that housed a national hockey team (NJ Devils)
and a minor league baseball team (Newark Bears).
Sure white people from North to Central Jersey came into town
for the Devils' games making the native "urban" folk feel displaced
to the point of considering jacking a fool or two -
I plead the fifth on having such thoughts -
but no one really cared if they played well.
New Jersey also had the Nets for a while,
and I followed them halfheartedly while Jason Kidd was on point,
but once Jay-Z showed interest in them, I displayed the opposite.
By Tri-State principle,
the Knicks, Yankees, Mets, Jets, and Giants are our teams too.
The Giants more so than the others because they PLAY in NJ.
But having more than one franchise in a sport
makes it difficult to pledge brand loyalty,
let alone feel sorry when they lose.
Coming to Baltimore
where there are two home teams to root for adamantly,
I wasn't sure how to take it.
In high school, each guy at the lunch table would be rooting for a different team
leaving you to wonder how in the hell a kid from Jersey
end up liking the Kansas City Chiefs or the Oakland Raiders.
In Baltimore it's a consensus of Ravens, with a few seldom other fans in the mix.
as sucky as they've been the past 10+ years,
have managed to hold on to fans, and their $5 student tickets - that could be finagled into front row seats with the ease of walking down to the plate - helped them gain a few more.
But with the success of the Orioles this season,
Baltimoreans rushed back to Camden Yards to watch the return of a team despite the spike of ticket prices.
Watching their last series against
the Yankees this year was conflicting for me.
I had never been a fan of the Yankees, let alone baseball.
If anyone asked who I rooted for in high school, I'd say Mets.
Geographical loyalty urged me to rally behind the Yankees,
but my heart told me to wish the Orioles well.
Every victory against the Yankees made me smile.
Actually, the pleased faces of the fans around city is what made me smile.
All that orange, it can't help but brighten up your day.
The week after the Orioles caught their final L that fateful Friday
was one of the purplest I've seen yet.
The Ravens, I must say, have always been on my radar.
Ever since my first year of Fantasy Football three years ago,
I knew their defense alone was a problem for other teams.
With the acquisition of Joe Flacco and Ray Rice in recent years,
they've been a true team to contend with.
It helps that Baltimoreans have embraced them with open arms since '96 after the Colts left them for Indianapolis in 1984.
It's almost as if the lost of a team made them appreciate
their next football team even more.
Having a phenomenal defensive player like Ray Lewis
that has stayed with them to this day helps strengthen
the bond between player and team even further.
That man is literally the backbone of the team.
My heart broke alongside the city's during last year's game
against the Giants, lost by a field goal at the very end.
It broke yesterday when it was confirmed Ray Lewis
would be out for the rest of the season along side Lardarius Webb.
For a team to be so good and fall short every year, it's frustrating.
But the thrill of the Ravens possibly going to the Super Bowl once more
is enough to carry the town of Baltimore on til the next season.
So as the weeks carry on, I hope to see the Ravens continue to crush it.
Never mind their defensive being on my fantasy team.
Consider this post my official resignation as a New York sports fan
and my first day as a true purple and orange Balti-moron sports fan.
I want to be part of a franchise with a true sense of community and fellowship.
Caw.
Word.
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